Project SMART presented in Parcines (BZ)
The Interreg project SMART promotes the culture of accessibility for all. With the Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum in Parcines, independent L. has found a pilot museum for the cross-border project in South Tyrol, which, under his coordination, has implemented innovative measures (virtual reality, augmented reality, virtual tour, web accessibility) for a truly barrier-free cultural experience on site.
The cross-border Interreg project SMART promotes the culture of accessibility among tourism and cultural operators and the valorisation of the local natural and cultural heritage as a common good. The participating pilot sites (Textile Machine Museum "MUMAT" in Valdagno (VI), Ecomuseum "La Tana" in Resia (UD) and Museum Schloss Ritzen in Saalfelden (Salzburg) are characterised by small museums and significant cultural and landscape aspects. With the Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum in Parcines, the Competence centre independent L. has found an adequate pilot museum for the project in South Tyrol, which under its coordination has implemented exemplary inclusive measures for a barrier-free cultural experience for all.
At the media press conference on Thursday, March 31st 2022, at 2 p.m., at the Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum in Parcines, the project manager of independent L. Günther Ennemoser and the museum director Maria Mayr presented the innovative technologies developed in the presence of the coordinator of the joint Interreg ITAT secretariat - Sabine Lamprecht, the member of the board of directors of the South Tyrolean Savings Bank Foundation Mrs. Hofer Ingrid, the mayor of the municipality of Parcines - Alois Forcher and the curator of the Palais Mamming Museum - Tiziano Rosani:
The museum's conventional audio guide has been replaced by a completely accessible digital museum tour in which all content has been created according to the multi-sense principle:
- Readable as digitally accessible text in the three languages German, Italian and English,
- readable with a screen reader (for people with visual impairments),
- audible as professional audio dubbing and
- visible in sign language (video clips in LIS and ÖGS for people with hearing disabilities).
The technology used enables a barrier-free guided tour on site in the museum using one's own mobile phone or from home in front of the computer, thanks to a virtual museum tour from the Typewriter Museum.
Preview - https://www.smart-museums.eu/en/kubus
In addition to this extraordinary museum guide, independent L. has commissioned an immersive 3D film about Peter Mitterhofer's typewriter prototypes, which has also been made accessible, as an international joint production with the Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum in Parcines, the Palais Mamming Museum in Merano, the Dresden Technical Collections and in collaboration with the Vienna Technical Museum:
- trilingual (German, Italian and English),
- with subtitles,
- with translation videos in the two sign languages ÖGS and LIS (German and Italian, because these languages are also different);
Trailer - https://youtu.be/knZRi4iivrA
The innovative 3D film in virtual reality was produced by the production company Machineria from Trento and can be viewed from the beginning of June with special 3D glasses at the Typewriter Museum Peter Mitterhofer in Parcines or at home on the PC via the museum's website and the website www.smart-museums.eu. Via this barrier-free project site, the four pilot sites of SMART are also linked to a joint virtual museum tour. The SMART project description is also available in easy-to-read language on the portal, and the corresponding content is marked with the European Logo for Easy Reading - Inclusion Europe.
In collaboration with the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, two museum objects in the Typewriter Museum were also modelled as digital elements in augmented reality.
In addition, independent L. has developed a technical adaptation plan for the South Tyrolean pilot site to remove and overcome existing architectural barriers, with some recommendations for action, which the museum management will implement.
„The barrier-free design of the Typewriter Museum in Parcines gives people with special needs natural and enjoyable access to history, art and culture and thus sets important impulses in the direction of an inclusive society in which diversity is valued as a benefit for all,“ emphasises Provincial Governor and Museums Provincial Councillor Arno Kompatscher in a written statement for the project presentation.
„In his application for financial support to Emperor Franz Josef, Peter Mitterhofer already emphasised how important his invention would be for people with „eyes and chest pains“, for the blind, for the „sick and bedridden“, as well as for „individuals who have only one hand“, „who cannot write at all or only with difficulty in the light“. In this sense, we at Independent L are very grateful to have been chosen for such a valuable project, and thus to be able to enable everyone - including people with an impairment - to participate in the cultural events of our museum in a largely inclusive and comprehensive way,“ explained museum director Maria Mayr.
„Starting from the words that P. Mitterhofer used to emphasise the social aspect of his invention and as an ideal continuation of it, I would like to point out a very decisive basic principle that has guided our daily work at independent L. for over 20 years: Innovation, the progressive, unstoppable development of technologies have deeply changed our lives, our habits, and so it will be in the future. Digital, sensory, robotic, VR, AR, IA are by definition accessible to all, at no extra cost, and promise a better quality of life. Let's take advantage of this unique opportunity and prevent digital barriers from being artificially built in due to lack of competence, ignorance or recklessness. Let's learn from the mistakes of the past,“ added the President of independent L. Enzo Dellantonio.
The SMART project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Interreg Italy-Austria V-A 2014-2020, Call 2018. The pilot measures in the Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum are co-financed by the Südtiroler Sparkasse Foundation. The film project about the typewriter prototypes developed by Peter Mitterhofer as an immersive visitor experience in virtual reality is co-financed by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano - South Tyrol, Department of German Culture - Office for Film and Media.
